Realtor opposes proposed property ordinances

Saturday

Jan 11, 2014 at 12:01 AMJan 11, 2014 at 12:30 AM

By ERIC POOLEEPOOLE@ELLWOODCITYLEDGER.COM

ELLWOOD CITY — The 2008 housing market collapse didn’t strike as severely in Ellwood City as it did in other parts of the United States, in part because housing values weren’t as overinflated here as they were in parts of Florida and Nevada.

But realtor Joe Carofino said the market still hasn’t come all the way back, and two ordinances being considered by Ellwood City Council won’t help matters. If passed, the ordinances would call for a code inspection prior to any home sale and create a landlord registry.

The ordinances, which council approved for advertising in December, could be adopted as soon as Jan. 20, but council President Brad Ovial said council still needs to fill in some of the proposed regulations’ fine strokes and it’s unlikely that a vote would be held before February.

“This is going to affect property values and not in a good way,” said Carofino, who is a member of the Lawrence County Assessment Appeals Board. “I don’t think it’s going to help our market now.”

Carofino said he has discussed the matter with other Realtors who are concerned that the inspection requirement could have a chilling effect on property transactions and that an additional inspection is unnecessary.

Most property transactions involve bank loans, Carofino said, which results in bank appraisals and inspections prior to a sale being finalized. Also, properties are subject to testing for hazardous radon gas and dye tests to ensure that home stormwater lines aren’t illegally connected to sewer lines.

“The properties are being inspected,” he said.

Carofino is concerned that the regulations would result in costs that would be passed along to renters and home buyers, which would burden them with additional costs at a time when they are least able to pay.

“I see so many tenants having trouble coming up with the up-front costs,” he said.

Borough manager Robert Villella said he doubts that the registration would prove an obstacle and called Carofino’s objection a “scare tactic.” The borough already has a registry of landlords, but the proposed ordinance would yield more information, particularly on renters.

As a result, he said Ellwood City could address one common landlord complaint - the inability to collect past due electric bills. Under borough policy, if a tenant left behind an outstanding electric bill when vacating an apartment, the landlord would have to settle that account before electric service could be reconnected.

Ovial maintained that the need for additional inspections and landlord registry was exposed in October, when borough inspectors declared an apartment building at Fourth Street and Lawrence Avenue uninhabitable and forced people out of their home with three hours notice.

At the time, Villella said inspectors had to get a legal order to undertake inspections. By the time an inspection was carried out, officials said the structure was so unsafe that an emergency evacuation order was necessary.

Ovial said the proposed ordinances are in part an attempt to avoid a similar occurrence in the future.

“That opened people’s eyes to some of the conditions that people are renting under,” he said. “There are a lot of situations that have gone under the radar.”

While the inspection and testing already in place have their use, Ovial said, the proposed ordinance would ensure that someone familiar with state and local building codes would be reviewing all property before sale.

Villella said the state already requires sellers to have certification that the property being sold complies with all zoning, safety, building and use codes prior to sale, and that the proposed ordinance merely makes local policy consistent with the state regulation.

Even though the ordinances could be passed this month, Ovial said council still needs to hash out some details, including a fee structure, prior to adoption.

While Carofino said he didn’t want to see residents saddled with additional costs for buying or renting property, Ovial said the borough is trying to protect buyers and tenants as well.

“We’re trying to protect the health and safety of residents,” he said.

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